Rolling hobbyhorse with counterweighted crank arms



ROLLING HOBBYHORSE WITH COUNTERWEIGHTED CRANK ARMS Filed March 18, 1955 H. M. BERRY .Igly 16, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet J.

' nvmvroa HENR/E 7'7'E MILLER BERRY ATTORNEY H. M. BERRY July 16, 1957 ROLLING HOBBYHORSE WITH COUIilERWEIGI-ITED CRANK ARMS Filed March 18, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 & E

mar m mm Fr A United States Patent" O ROLLING HOBBYHO'RSE WITH COUNTER- WEIGHTED CRANK ARMS Henriette Miller Berry, Kansas City, Mo.

Application March 18, 1955, Serial No. 495,101

6 Claims. (Cl. 280-1192) is movably mounted on a frame in such a manner that when the rider supports his or her weight on the frame or other supporting surface by his or her feet alternately with supporting the riders-weight on the movable body by sitting thereon, the body is caused to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes in such a manner as to simulate the movements of the body of a horse being ridden.

More specifically my invention comprises a body mounted on a frame by means of paired cranks, each pair mounted to rotate about an axis on the frame, and said axes being longitudinally spaced on the frame, so that said body turns about the spaced axes to obtain the above referred to movement of the body, said cranks being provided with counterweights to cause the rotational movement thereof to continue after the weight of the. rider has been removed from the body and transferred to the frame or other support in the above referred to manner.

Due to the mounting of the body in the above referred to manner the rotative action about a pair of axes of the body is obtained, and preferably this motion is utilized to move the entire toy forwardly on wheels on which it is preferably mounted.

It is a particular purpose of my invention to provide a simple toy of the above referred to character that has few moving parts and which avoids the use of springs or other members that will deteriorate in use.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear as the description of the drawings proceeds. I desire to have it understood, however, that I do not intend to limit myself to the particular details shown or described, except as defined by the claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved hobby horse.

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view thereof.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation partly broken away, showing the swinging mounting for the hobby horse body.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 44 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 3 showing the parts in an alternative position.

Referring in detail to the drawings, my improved hobby horse is preferably mounted on a frame 10 having a pair of longitudinally extending frame members 11 that have upwardly and inwardly directed forward end portions 12 that have a pivotal mounting 13 for a front wheel 14, the front wheel being shown at 15. A steering post 16 having a cross bar 17' may' be provided for steering the front wheel 15. The frame 10' also has rearwardly Patented July 16, 1957 diverging and downwardly extending portions 18 that provide a pivotal mounting for a rear axle 19 that has rear wheels 20 mounted thereon to rotate therewith. A pulley 21 is mounted on the rear axle 19 to rotate therewith.

The frame members 11 have pairs of cranks mounted thereon, said cranks having transversely extending shaft portions 22 that are pivotally mounted in suitable bearings in the frame members 11, and it will be obvious from Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 that said shafts 22 are transversely aligned and are longitudinally spaced along the frame 11 so that said cranks will rotate about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes on the frame. Each of said cranks is provided with a pair of arms 23 and 24 fixed to the shaft 22. Said arms 23 and 24 extend in opposite directions and are diametrically opposite each other on the shaft portion 22. All the arms 23 of the cranks are of the same length and all of the arms 24 of said cranks are of the same length. The arms 23 are provided with pivot members 25, which are pivotally mounted in transversely aligned openings in the body mounting member 26, which has a transverse portion 27 on which the body 28 is mounted in any suitable manner. Thus each pair of cranks is connected with the body mounting member 26 to pivot said body mounting member thereon about a pair of axes that are spaced longitudinally of the mounting member 26 the same distance, as the axes of the shafts 22 are spaced longitudinally of the frame 11.

Each pair of crank arms 24 has the ends thereof that are remote from the shafts 22 connected by means of a transverse shaft portion 29' for mounting a counterweight 30 for rotation thereon. Preferably the counterweights 30 arecylindrical in character and are mounted for rotation about their axes on the shafts 29.

The body 28 is shown as being a horse body providing a top portion 31 which serves as a seat for the rider, although obviously any other body 28 could be mounted on the mounting member 26. Preferably the body 28 is hollow so as to reduce the weight of the device. The vehicle can be steered'by the'rider by means of the reins 32, which are connected with the opposite ends of the cross bar 17 in an obvious manner. The frame 10 is provided with a pair'offoot rests 33 that serve as, and may be made to have the appearance of, st-irrups, being mounted on brackets 34 depending from the frame members 11.-

A shaft 35 havingv a pulley 36 thereon is mounted pivotally in the frame members 11, said pulley being mounted on said shaft to rotate therewith. The shaft 35 also has a crank 3'7 fixed thereto, said crank being mounted at the other end thereof on the mounting member 26 by means of a pivot member 38,- a-nd it will be obvious that as the mounting member 26 moves in a circular path about the transverse axes 22 on the frame members 11 the crank 37 will rotate the shaft 35 and thus the pulley 36, the direction of rotation being indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3. The pulley 36 is aligned longitudinally of the vehicle, with the pulley 21 on the rear axle 19 and a belt 39 operates over the pulleys 3'6 and 21 to rotate the rear wheels 20 so as to move the vehicle in a forward direction. Preferably a flexible guard member 40 depends from the mounting member 26 on each side of the vehicle so as to protect the legs of the rider from any moving parts. Said guard members can be made to simulate a saddle blanket. While a belt is shown for driving the rear wheels, obviously sprockets and a sprocket chain could be used, or any other suitable driving means, for transmitting the motion from the shaft 35' to the rear axle 19.

In the use of my improved hobby horse the rider mounts the horse body, placing his or her feet on the foot rests 33 andseating himself or herself on the horse body 28, allowing the weight of the rider to be placed on the body 23 so as to cause the body to be moved downwardly and forwardly in the circular path about the pivots '22 that would result from the mounting of the body This will cause the counterweights 30 to travel upwardly, the movement of the parts being in a counter-clockwise direction about the shafts 22, as viewed in Pig. 3. The rider thereupon lifts himself or herself off the body 28 sufficiently to relieve the body of his or her weight, putting the weight of the rider on the foot rests 33 in this action, which comprises a partial standing action on the foot rests 33. Upon the relief of the weight upon the body 28, the counterweights 39 will swing the body around in the same direction about the shafts of the cranks, upwardly, until the counterweights have reached their lowermost position, said counterweights passing through the uppermost position thereof due to the fact that the entire crank system and weights act in a similar manner to flywheels. The weight of the rider is then again put on the body 28 to again move the horse body downwardly and the counterwei hts upwardly, and this alternate shifting of the riders weight from the body to the frame continues to cause the hobby horse to have the swinging movement about the axes of the shafts that is characteristic of the movements of a horse that is being ridden. While this motion of the body 28 and the mounting member 26 is taking place the driving connection between the mounting member '26 and the rear wheels causes the hobby horse to be moved forwardly on the wheels.

What I claim is:

1. A riding toy comprising a frame, a body providing a seat movably mounted on said frame, and means for mounting said body on said frame to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes comprising a pair of transversely spaced cranks mounted to pivot on said frame about each of said axes, each of said cranks having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivotal mounting, a body mounting member pivotally mounted on the ends of corresponding arms of the cranks of each pair, and a counterweight mounted on the other arms of each pair of cranks.

2. A riding toy comprising a frame, a body providing a seat movably mounted on said frame, means for mounting said body on said frame to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes comprising a pair of transversely spaced cranks mounted to pivot freely on said frame about each of said axes, each of said cranks having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivotal mounting at an angle of 180 degrees to each other, a body mounting member pivotally mounted on the ends of corresponding arms of the cranks of each pair, and a counterweight rotatably mounted on the other arms of each pair of cranks, and stationary foot rests on said frame below said body, said cranks extending in parallelism to each other.

3. A wheeled riding toy comprising a frame, drive wheels on said frame, a body providing a seat movably mounted on said frame, means for mounting said body on said frame to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes comprising a pair of transversely spaced cranks mounted to pivot on said frame about each of said axes, each of said cranks having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivotal mounting, a body mounting member pivotally mounted on the ends of corresponding arms of the cranks of each pair, said arms extending parallel to each other, and a counterweight mounted on the other arms of each pair of cranks, and a driving connection between said mounting member and said drive wheels, comprising a drive shaft on said frame and a crank mounted on said shaft and pivotally mounted on said body mounting member to extend parallel to the arms of said pair of cranks mounting said body mounting member and in the same direction from said shaft as said pair of arms extend from said longitudinally spaced axes.

4. A riding toy comprising a frame, a body providing a seat movably mounted on said frame, and means for mounting said body on said frame to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes comprising a pair of transversely spaced cranks mounted to pivot on said frame about each of said axes, each of said cranks having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivotal mounting, one arm of each crank being located laterally outwardly of said frame and the other arm of each crank being located laterally inwardly of said frame, said laterally outwardly located arms being of equal length and extending parallel to each other, a body mounting member pivot-ally mounted on the ends of said laterally outwardly located arms of each pair of cranks, said other arms of each pair being of equal length and extending at degrees to said first mentioned arms, and a counterweight mounted between said last mentioned arms of each pair.

5. A wheeled riding toy comprising a frame, drive wheels on said frame, a body providing a seat movably mounted on said frame, means for mounting said body on said frame to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes comprising a pair of transversely spaced cranks mounted to pivot on said frame about each of said axes, each of said cranks having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivotal mounting, one arm of each crank being located laterally outwardly of said frame and the other arm of each crank being located laterally inwardly of said frame, said laterally outwardly located arms being of equal length and extending parallel to each other, a body mounting member pivotally mounted on the ends of said laterally outwardly located arms of each pair of cranks, said other arms of each pair being of equal length, and a counterweight mounted between said last mentioned arms of each pair, and a driving connection between said mounting member and said drive wheels, comprising a drive shaft on said frame and a crank mounted on said shaft and pivotally mounted on said body mounting member to extend parallel to the arms of said pair of cranks mounting said body mounting member and in the same direction from said shaft as said pair of arms extend from said longitudinally spaced axes, the distance between the axis of said shaft and the pivotal mounting of said last mentioned crank being the same as the distance between the pivots of each of said arms on which said body mounting member is mounted.

6. A wheeled riding toy comprising a frame, drive wheels on said frame, a body providing a seat movably mounted on said frame, means for mounting said body on said frame to swing about a pair of longitudinally spaced axes comprising a pair of transversely spaced cranks mounted to pivot on said frame about each of said axes, each of said cranks having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivotal mounting, one arm of each crank being located laterally outwardly of said frame and the other arm of each crank being located laterally inwardly of said frame, said laterally outwardly located arms being of equal length and extending parallel to each other, a body mounting member pivot-ally mounted on the ends of said laterally outwardly located arms of each pair of cranks, said other arms of each pair being of equal length, and a counterweight mounted between said last mentioned arms of each pair, and a driving connection between said mounting member and said drive wheels, comprising a drive shaft on said frame and a crank mounted on said shaft and pivotally mounted on said body mounting member to extend parallel to the arms of said pair of cranks mounting said body mounting member and in the same direction from said shaft as said pair of arms extend from said longitudinally spaced axes, the distance between the axis of said shaft and the pivotal mounting of said last mentioned crank being the same as the distance between the pivots of each of said arms on which said body mounting memher is mounted, said body having guard members suspended therefrom outwardly from said laterally outwardly located arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 542,871 Crandall July 16, 1895 6 Zetschok Oct. 28, 1913 Morgan Apr. 5, 1927 Pichler May 8, 1951 Reames Apr. 13, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS France Aug. 12, 1902 France Jan. 10, 1925 

